


I Like This a Little Better

by Soldsoulpunk



Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: Airports, Fluff, M/M, Reddie, Surprises, cute babies surprising eachother
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-27 08:41:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21115931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soldsoulpunk/pseuds/Soldsoulpunk
Summary: “Damn it Eddie.” He whispered, leaning his head back against the wall behind him. “Why'd you have to wait so long to come to LA?” he sighed, pulling his phone out to try Eddie again.Moving to LA has some setbacks.. Like a Manhattan winter.





	I Like This a Little Better

Richie bounced excitedly by the baggage claim. Raising up a little on his tiptoes to look over people, hoping to find Eddie's face in the crowd. He checked his watch again, ten after, it had only been two minutes but it felt like it had been much longer. The baggage claim beside him began to move, luggage loading onto the conveyor belt as a woman came over the loud speaker announcing that the luggage from the Dallas flight into LAX was now arriving. Richie huffed, he had been waiting for Eddie for an hour, and he wasn't here yet. He ran up the escalator and approached the ticketing agent. “Hi, I was just checking to see when the 1430 flight from Manhattan was supposed to be getting in?” The blonde woman smiled, slightly panicked knowing who Richie was. “Uh, of course Mr. Tozier, right away!” She typed away nervously, looking up at Richie and smiling every few moments. “Uh.. Oh! It seems that flight has been canceled sir.” She frowned and looked up at him. He sighed and pulled out his phone to call Eddie again.. Straight to voice mail.. He probably packed his phone charger in his checked luggage. Richie nodded and looked at the girls name tag. “Thanks Samantha, I'll get a hold of him eventually.” She smiled at him and nodded. “Have a nice day!” She called after him as he walked away. He waved back at her and walked back down to the baggage claim. He found a free seat and sat down, resting his ankle on his left knee. “Damn it Eddie.” He whispered, leaning his head back against the wall behind him. “Why'd you have to wait so long to come to LA?” he sighed, pulling his phone out to try Eddie again.

“_You've reached Eddie Kaspbrack, leave me a message and I'll get back to you!” _

Richie smiled a little, hearing the voice at the other end. “Hey, uh, I'm here at the airport and..” He trailed off “You're not. I'll be waiting by baggage claim if you ever get this.. Uh, love you.. See you soon I hope.” It was winter in Manhattan, so of course the flight was canceled. Richie had warned him this would happen, but Eddie wanted to wrap up his last few cases before he moved to LA with Richie. Richie understood, and he wanted Eddie to feel prepared and comfortable moving across the country. So he waited. He waited for Eddie to divorce Myra, to get a new job, to find a new place. He waited patiently, because he loved Eddie. He leaned back and thought about him, he hadn't seen him since they parted ways at the airport in Maine. They promised each other they'd be together, and here they were nearly six months later on the brink.. If only the damn flight hadn't been canceled, Eddie would be in his arms right now.

Richie bounced his leg anxiously, putting his headphones in and trying to distract himself with a podcast. He knew he could be waiting here for forever for Eddie. He should just go home and wait, right? He knew going home was dumb, he'd just wish he was here at the airport the whole time. Another three hours passed and countless people were being united with their loved ones in front of him. Richie's phone was nearing 15% battery life when he started to consider going home. He stood up and started to walk away from the baggage claim when his phone rang. Richie rushed to answer the phone. “Hello?” He answered, his voice raspy and tired. It was Eddie, Eddie who he'd longed to hear from all day. “Hey Rich, I'm so sorry. My flight got canceled.” Richie ran a hand through his hair and nodded, not like he could see him nodding, but Richie didn't know what else to do. “Yeah I figured. Did your phone die? I've been calling you.” He heard Eddie sigh “Yeah, I know. It died. I just barely managed to get my luggage back.” Richie turned and looked at the baggage claim going around to the left of him. “So whats the plan?” Richie asked softly. He heard Eddie sigh on the other end. “I'll come as soon as I can. You get some rest. You're at home, right?” Richie walked towards the doors that would lead him to the garage. “No, I'm at the airport.” He stopped, taking in the outside air and stretching his back out. Eddie was quiet when he replied. “Oh, well go home!” He spoke quickly, his voice coming across as nervous. Richie paused, he didn't think Eddie would try to trick him, but he certainly thought it possible.

“I can't.” He replied, a slight tone of suspicion in his voice. He pressed his ear closer to the receiver, listening to any hint that Eddie might have actually made it to LAX. “I have to go see my manager.” He muted his end and asked the security guard nearest to him to make an announcement looking for someone that didn't exist. He just wanted to listen to hear if it came through on Eddie's line. “Well, I think you should go home. You're probably tired from waiting for me all day, but that's just my opinion.” Richie held his breath and listened quietly. It was faint, but he could hear the sound of security calling for 'Mr Alan White' Richie smiled, his head swinging around, looking desperately for Eddie. He took himself off of mute and walked close to the building. “Well, I'll go home in a little bit. I have an errand to run first. I promise.” He crouched down to blend better with the crowd, he'd almost reached the end of the sidewalk when he saw him.

The smaller man, tapping his foot, holding his free hand out in front of him as he talked. “Richie, I swear to god, just go home.” Richie pretended to cut out. “Sorry, bad service, call you back.” He replied quickly before hanging up the phone. He watched Eddie drop his arm to his leg, slapping it lightly as he did. “Ass!” He yelled out, looking around him at the families that were judging him for the sudden outburst. “Sorry, my boyfriend, he's making this surprise thing difficult.” Richie could hear him explaining. The woman next to him nodded “I understand completely.” She laughed and squeezed her wife's hand. “This one was the same way. But she caved and went home.” Eddie watched the street, probably looking for his uber driver. Richie walked up behind Eddie and the woman next to him spotted him. Richie held up a finger to his lips to silence her. She smiled and nodded, her wife did the same.

“I just haven't seen him for six months. I barely made it out of Manhattan and I want to see him, but I want it to be memorable.” Eddie sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Maybe he wants the same thing.” the woman reassured. Eddie nodded. Richie took another step forward and threw his arm around Eddie, who jumped at the touch. “Maybe you should've been more sneaky, and just called me from my house instead.” Eddie whipped his head around and barely had a chance to grin at the taller man before Richie leaned down and kissed Eddie. Eddie dropped his duffle bag on the concrete, something he'd certainly regret later, and turned to wrap his arms around Eddies neck, reaching up on his tip toes to kiss Richie that much deeper. He pulled away, his face a little red and his lungs a little out of breath, holding Richie's face in his hands. “Yeah, maybe you're right.” He ran his thumbs along the stubble on Richie's cheeks and smiled. “But I like this a little better.”


End file.
